An apparatus of the above mentioned type for putting a ribbon piece cut and folded from a ribbon band, strip or web on an edge of a moving textile fabric or the like, can be used to position the strip section for subsequent sewing, e.g. in the application of labels, hook engaging loops or the like to towels, garments, etc.
In such apparatus the ribbon can be fed to a folding unit by a feed unit, the folding unit being coupled with an adjustable ribbon cutting unit to make a suitably folded ribbon piece which is transported subsequently by a conveying unit to a textile fabric to which it is applicable and held thereon under a piece holder until the fabric reaches, e.g. the sewing machine.
The ribbon folding unit can have a fold plate oriented transversely to the ribbon feed unit.
The fold plate can be slidable back and forth across the ribbon feed path and may engage and thereby fold a portion of the ribbon.
The conveying apparatus can include a conveying clamp located at about the same level as the feed channel of the fold plate. This clamp has a first upper clamp jaw and a second lower clamp jaw conformed and positioned to engage and hold the fold plate, the first upper clamp jaw pressing against the upper surface of the fold plate and the second lower clamp jaw pressing against the under surface of the fold plate. The conveying clamp is constructed to be lowerable to the feed path of the textile fabric and is slidable parallel to the textile fabric until it reaches the piece holder.
An adjustable ribbon-holding clamp is positioned behind the conveying clamp at the end of the ribbon feed path to support the ribbon as it is cut. The conveying clamp is movable parallel to the textile fabric feed direction by a belt drive mechanism or the like which is constructed to move the conveying clamp with a velocity equal to that of the textile fabric.
Such an apparatus is described in German patent DE-PS No. 21 30 820 and in German patent DE-PS No. 28 41 586.
While these devices are essentially highly functional and useful, each of them has difficulties.
For example only U-shaped ribbon segments can be produced by the apparatus according to DE-PS No. 28 41 586, but with the apparatus according to German patent DE-PS No. 21 30 820 only V-shaped ribbon pieces can be positioned on the textile fabric.
In the prior art, therefore, each time a different type of ribbon piece was attached a different machine had to be constructed. For short runs for a particular shape of ribbon piece a new and different apparatus could not be economically constructed.